Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the coordination of computer network data call(s) or session(s) created to supplement a telephone call made to a semi-automated telephone system. The computer network data call(s) provide video images accessed first from an auto-attendant and then from a live operator after the telephone call is transferred to the operator or agent, for example. Uses of the invention include consumer information, help desk consultation services, and ordering and purchasing of goods or services.
Electronic commerce and other uses of the Internet have rapidly developed. A user may navigate with their web browser to an information provider""s (e.g., a seller or manufacturer""s) web page to view textual, audio, and graphic information about goods or services prior to making a selection decision or about how to operate, maintain, or repair previously purchased goods or services. While many people have accepted or even embraced the Internet, others are reluctant to use it for many reasons such as unfamiliarity, lack of understanding, worries over security of credit card information, or personal preference. In many instances, it may take a very experienced Internet user to find much of the information that is available. Inexperienced users may have difficulty locating the information they desire or even knowing where to look (i.e., knowing which websites or webpages are relevant).
A more traditional manner of obtaining information from providers of information, goods, or services has been by telephone enquiries (e.g., using toll-free telephone numbers). A drawback of the telephonic method is that information that can be provided is limited to audio information (either prerecorded or spoken by a live operator).
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a means of acquiring information with the simplicity of telephone calls while providing the ability to display video images to the calling person.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internetworking (i.e., the interconnection of many computer networks) allows the interaction of very large numbers of computers and computer users. The most well known example is the Internet. Computers connected to the Internet may be widely separated geographically and utilize many different hardware and software configurations. In order to achieve communication sessions between any two endpoints on the Internet, an addressing system and various standard protocols for exchanging computer data packets have been developed.
Each packet sent over the Internet includes fields that specify the source and destination address of the packet according to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to the network interface nodes involved. Currently assigned addresses comprise 32 bits, although future standards allow for 128 bit addresses. The 32 bit addresses are normally written by breaking the 32 bits into 4 groups of 8 bits each and writing the decimal equivalents of each group separated by periods (e.g., 208.25.106.10).
Since numerical IP addresses are inconvenient to use and remember, a protocol for assigning and accessing logical names is used known as the domain name system (DNS). DNS servers are deployed within the Internet which perform a translation function between a logical domain name such as xe2x80x9csprint.comxe2x80x9d and its numerical equivalent xe2x80x9c208.25.106.10xe2x80x9d. After receiving an IP address back from a DNS server, a computer can forward data packets to the IP address and establish a connection or session with the remote computer.
While the DNS system can work well for hosted content (e.g., material made available for browsing by commercial and private entities), it is not well suited to ad hoc communications or exchanges of data between individuals. Hosting a website and registering an IP address within the DNS system is expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, due to an impending shortage of IP addresses and the cost for maintaining use of each IP address, many Internet service providers assign IP addresses dynamically to their individual users. In other words, when a user signs on to their service, they are temporarily assigned an IP address from an address pool assigned to their service provider. The user occupies that IP address only for their current session.
Even when individual users have their own static IP addresses, and when other users can remember the IP address of a user with whom they would like to establish a connection session over the Internet (e.g., for voice or video telephony), the need to configure their hardware or software is too complex for many users. This is one reason why e-mail is such a popular and successful Internet application. A mail server with an easy to remember domain name acts as intermediary between two individual users. Using a simple application program and the recipient""s account name on the mail server (i.e., their e-mail address), text messages and computer files can be exchanged. The exchange, however, does not allow the users to interact in real time. Thus, there is a need for a way to allow two or more individual users to establish interactive connection sessions over the Internet without requiring overt knowledge of the other""s IP address and without complicated configurations or set-ups.
Copending applications U.S. Ser. No. 09/978,616 and U.S. Ser. No. 10/033,813 teach the use of a central server allowing two or more individual users to establish interactive connection sessions over the Internet without requiring overt knowledge of the other""s IP address and without complicated configurations or set-ups. Each user registers with the central server, resulting in a database of users and their current IP addresses. A calling user sends a request to the central server to establish a connection with a called user. The central server can either relay all network message packets between the users for the duration of a xe2x80x9ccallxe2x80x9d, or it may provide the IP addresses to the users so that they can exchange packets directly. The called user may be identified within the database by information well known or easily discovered by other users, such as their telephone number. A telephone call may be established simultaneously with establishing the computer network session, thereby enhancing the user interaction regardless of the type of computer data to be exchanged (e.g., video frames, computer files, etc.). In one embodiment, the computer network session is automatically established in response to the act of dialing the called user""s telephone number.
When the called user (e.g., information provider) has an auto-attendant (i.e., a computerized automated telephone response system) for screening and/or directing incoming calls to live human operators or agents, the IP address of the operator that will handle an incoming telephone call cannot be known in advance. Furthermore, it may be very desirable for both the auto-attendant and the live operator to provide video images to the calling user. Network data call set-up must take these factors into account.
The present invention has the advantage that control of video images transmitted to the calling user is transferred in conjunction with the transfer of the telephone call from an auto-attendant to a live operator.
In one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for video telephony wherein a user interacts with a provider system via a public switched telephone network and a computer network. The provider system includes an auto-attendant resource, a live operator resource, and at least one provider computer, wherein a user computer and the provider computer are connected to the computer network for exchanging network packets therebetween. Each of the computers has a respective private IP address within the computer network. The method includes the user dialing a provider telephone number of the provider system from a user telephone having a user telephone number to establish a telephone call. The auto-attendant resource answers the telephone call. At least one of the provider telephone number or the user telephone number is transmitted to a central server within the computer network. The central server maintains a database of registered users and providers, their telephone numbers, and IP addresses of their computers. The database is checked for the transmitted telephone number. If the transmitted telephone number is found, then a first network session is established between the user computer and the provider computer. First video images are transmitted within the first network session from the provider computer to the user computer under control of the auto-attendant resource. The telephone call is transferred from the auto-attendant resource to the live operator resource. Second video images are transmitted to the user computer under control of the live operator resource.